Oman eases COVID-19 restrictions

Muscat: With Oman seeing a sharp decrease in COVID-19 cases over the past few days, restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the disease have been eased.The country reported just 181 new cases of the disease on Saturday, 15 August, compared to a daily average of above 1,000 cases during its peak, which was just about a month ago.
Currently, there are 82,924 cases of COVID-19 in the country, and 77,550 of those who have tested positive for the disease have since recovered, pointing to a recovery rate of 93.5 percent. 562 people have died due to complications from the coronavirus.
While the Royal Oman Police and the Supreme Committee have confirmed that the ban on movement until 15 August has ended, schools are also expected to reopen on 1 November, with staff returning to work on 27 September.
Schools will initially follow a hybrid model of teaching, where some classes are held online, while students will be required to go to school for at least a part of the time.
“The 2020-2021 academic year will start on Sunday, 1 November, 2020, for students, and on Sunday, 27 September, 2020, for teachers and related jobs,” said a statement from the Supreme Committee. “The academic terms shall not be less than 180 days. The vacations of students, teachers and associated jobs will be aligned with this decision accordingly.
“Students will go to school for some classes, and will attend other classes through distance learning, in accordance with the controls and regulations to be issued by the Ministry of Education,” added the statement.
A lockdown restricting the travel of everyone, except essential and emergency vehicles between 7pm and 6am, had been instituted in the country on 25 July. During this period, travel between governorates was also banned, until August 8, when the timings of the lockdown were reduced to between 9pm and 5am.
“While appreciating the great response shown by the citizens and residents, the committee calls upon everyone to continue to strictly adhere to wearing face masks, keep physical distancing and maintain hand hygiene along with other preventive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus,” added the committee.
The Royal Oman Police thanked all the citizens and residents for their cooperation in helping them implement this decision.